Colombia and Portugal meet in Miami on the final day of Group K in a fixture that could decide who advances to the knockout rounds. These two nations share a history of producing technically brilliant players whose individual quality can change matches in an instant. A final group day match between them, with qualification stakes fully in view, has the ingredients for something genuinely memorable.

The nations have not met frequently at World Cups, but both bring substantial tournament history. Colombia’s 1994 campaign is remembered partly for the tragic context surrounding it, but that team contained brilliant players in a generation that produced Gabriel Batistuta-level individual performers. Their 2014 run in Brazil, powered by James Rodriguez’s Golden Boot campaign, is how modern Colombian football is most vividly remembered internationally.

Portugal have been one of European football’s consistent presences over the past two decades. Technically refined, with players accustomed to the highest club level across the continent’s top leagues. Their tournament ceiling has occasionally frustrated expectations but their quality is never in doubt.

Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, modernised significantly for the World Cup, sits in a city with one of the most football-passionate cultures in North America. Miami’s large Colombian and South American population will create a specific atmosphere for this match. Portugal’s European support base has a presence in South Florida as well.

By matchday three both teams will know exactly what they need. If qualification is not yet settled, this becomes a high-pressure decider. Colombia vs Portugal, both at full intensity, in Miami’s heat and noise, is a proper football occasion.